Hookup Culture Essay

Hookup Culture – degenerated of thought or a sample of modern generation? Hookup culture is a new pattern for American college students involving transient sexual intercourse and having no expectations of a traditional romantic relationship. Hookup activities may include a broad range of sexual behaviors, such as kissing, dancing sexual, oral sex, and having sex. In recent years, hookup culture has become more popular than it was in the past, and sexual behaviors have changed over time in the United States. Popular media representations of sexuality demonstrate the pervasiveness of sexual hookup culture among emerging adults. The themes of books, plots of movies and television shows, and lyrics of numerous songs all demonstrate a permissive

One of the problems with the hookup culture is that courting and traditional dating has decreased and sexual behavior outside of traditional committed romantic pair-bonds has become increasingly typical and socially acceptable. Monto and Carey use England’s Online College Social Life Survey to point out that “78% of a sample of students from a Northeastern university reported hooking up, with 47.5% of men and 33.3% of women reporting that the experience included intercourse” (Monto and Carey 605). The popular media have claimed that the hookup culture is a widespread phenomenon that has suggested that the traditional romantic date is nearly dead on campuses and has been replaced by casual sexual relationships (607). A decline in traditional dating and courtship practices has occurred on American college campuses (605). As a sexual solution for the demands of college students, hooking up became incorporated into notions of what the college experience should be (Hamilton and Armstrong 604). Students are involved in hookup culture to get experiences in their college lifestyle, and they think that hooking up is fun and nonthreatening without the demands of serious

Hookups are part of a popular cultural shift that has infiltrated the lives of emerging adults throughout the Westernized world. Marla, Katherine, and Carolyn point out the negative consequences surrounding hookup culture that can affect people who involve in sexual intercourse such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancies (Marla, Katherine, and Carolyn 128). According to Garcia, Reiber, Massey, and Merriwether’s qualitative research “Most 71 college students (39 women and 32 men reported that nearly half of participants were unconcerned about contracting STDs from intercourse during a hookup” (Garcia, Reiber, Massey, and Merriwether 168). In addition to sexual risk-taking, in terms of low condom use, another issue of concern involving hookups is the high comorbidity with substance use and alcohol use has also been associated with a type of hookup. Sometimes it was consumed to facilitate hooking up, and other times given as a reason why hookups went further than expected or wanted. The researchers say alcohol and drug use can drastically increase the risks associated with